Friday, December 31, 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

When we first arrived in London September 7, we stayed at the Millennium Hotel. It was adjacent to the Chelsea Football (soccer) Stadium, and we returned there the evening our tour ended. Chelsea hosted Newcastle that night; typically before matches, police close nearby streets and canine and horse detachments are deployed to maintain crowd control. It was the perfect opportunity to talk with officers on patrol, who even offered suggestions for dinner that evening!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

We were surprised to see this cemetery within a few blocks of the university campus. Oxford has been a seat of learning since 1249.

The campus buildings and grounds were so impressive; Doug and I wished that we'd had more than a few hours to explore, but our tour ended that evening. I'd love to go back for another visit!

When we entered the Museum of the History of Science, Doug immediately asked the receptionist, "If you had about 15 minutes, what would you recommend we see?"

Without hesitation, she said, "The basement!" and handed us a pamphlet, which noted exhibits on the apparatus and model for the development of penicillin in Oxford in the 1940s; the chemical developing kit used by photographer Lewis Carroll; AND - Einstein's blackboard with his chalked equations written during a lecture in Oxford in 1931.

Why did this interest us? This past March, Doug and I drove to visit his older brother Ralph, who was vacationing in The Villages, which is about an hour north of Orlando. What kept us occupied during the long drive? The 18-CD audiobook "Einstein: His Life and Universe." Yes, for 21 hours and 30 minutes, we learned everything there was to know about Einstein, including his famous equation presented at Oxford!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

When Doug's 2011 convention schedule gets finalized, we'll again start daily blog entries - so far, he's committed to exhibiting with Big Wow Art at the San Diego Comic-Con July 20-24 and plans to attend Fan Expo Canada August 26-28 and New York Comic Con October 14-16.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

In the years since Doug's first cartoon was published in Playboy - September 1964, he has submitted thousands of cartoon roughs. Of course, not all can be selected for final art and ultimate publication in the magazine.

For the holidays, we're sharing a few of Doug's unpublished favorites; enjoy!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The walk from the entrance was steep and gave you a real sense of how immense this imposing structure is.

The view of the city was spectacular.

The dog cemetery at Edinburgh Castle: only one other dog cemetery exists in Scotland - at Fort George, near Inverness, built in the aftermath of the battle of Culloden in 1746.

Edinburgh Castle was a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603; in the 17th Century it became a military base with a large garrison.

Prestonfield was built in 1687 for Sir James Dick; today it's a hotel and tourist venue celebrating Scottish heritage with singing, dancing, bagpipe playing and sampling of Scotland's national dish - haggis.

Scott Hunter, our Trafalgar tour guide, proudly represented his clan at the "Taste of Scotland," held at Prestonfield for the past 36 years. Scott earned a 10+ from Doug and me; he made our trip a wonderful experience.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Bio

Doug has been a cartoonist for Playboy magazine since 1964.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-60's, his "Doug Sneyd" and "Scoops" news cartoons appeared daily in newspapers across North America. Sneyd's talent has also led him into cinema: in 1993, he wrote, produced and directed "Black-eyed Susan," an educational movie-drama about spousal abuse, for the Ontario government. He was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and has been a member of the National Cartoonists' Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Thirty of his full-page color Playboy cartoons are among the 235 Sneyd works included in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
Sneyd was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but spent much of his professional career in Toronto. In 1969 he moved his family north to Orillia made famous as the mythical "Mariposa" by humorist Stephen Leacock. He works on the third floor of his home-studio overlooking beautiful Lake Couchiching and spends his winters on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama.